Gun Violence

This special collection brings together evidence and insights from nonprofits, foundations, and research organizations working to understand the full impact of firearm use and gun violence in the US. By providing us with analyses of current state and federal laws as well as valuable data on suicides, homicides, accidents, and mass shootings, these organizations seek to inform sound public policy and to curb this ongoing public health epidemic.

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The premise of the Law Center's annual Gun Law State Scorecard is simple. Our legal experts evaluate every state's gun laws, assign grades, and compare those grades with the state's most recent gun death rate. Consistently, we see a powerful correlation: states with stronger laws have fewer gun deaths per capita while states with weaker laws have more gun deaths.
2016 brought increased public outcry over gun violence, as well as real progress at the state level, with a flurry of new gun laws passed, including ballot initiatives in three states. But, with 25 states scoring an F for their gun laws, clearly there is so much more work to be done. Use the map above to see how your state stacks up and learn about the steps your lawmakers can take to save lives in 2017.

Gun violence is an epidemic in this country. Over 117,000 Americans are shot every year, with 33,000 dying -- a rate that dwarfs every other industrialized nation. Adding insult to injury is the fact that we know so much of this pain is preventable. How do we know that? We've done the research.
Each year, the legal experts at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence analyze the strength of gun laws in all 50 states and assign letter grades. Then we compare those grades to the states' gun death rates. Year after year, we've seen a powerful correlation: states with stronger laws have fewer gun deaths per capita while states with weaker laws have more gun deaths. And interstate gun trafficking has become a contagion -- states with the weakest laws are also the source of the most crime guns. Simply put, smart gun laws are saving lives. But to reach their full potential, those laws urgently need to be adopted nationwide.

Every year, more than 30,000 Americans die from gun violence. But there's more to the story. The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence has been fighting for smart gun laws for over 20 years, and we've noticed a trend: the states with stronger gun regulation have lower gun death rates, and the states with weaker regulation have higher gun death rates.
By grading all 50 states on their gun laws and showing the clear correlation between smart gun laws and reduced gun violence, we can encourage state legislators to adopt the common-sense solutions that will save lives. And not just at home -- we found that states with the weakest gun laws are also responsible for trafficking the most crime guns.
We grade the states each year to urge our leaders to build on the momentum for smart gun laws in America, stand up to the gun lobby, and not rest until the entire country has an A+.

We hear stories of gun violence every day. Domestic disputes turning deadly. Street crimes taking the lives of innocent people. Mass shootings wreaking havoc in our public spaces. Suicides and fatal accidents devastating families across the country. The unrelenting toll of America's gun violence epidemic leaves 100,000 people injured or killed every year in communities nationwide. But while the number of people affected by this crisis is staggering -- 86 people die by guns every single day -- it's almost equally shocking to find that legislators nationwide aren't doing everything in their power to prevent the killings.
Plenty of widely supported policies can reduce gun violence, but, in many states, they aren't being adopted. In fact, a number of states have chosen to pass measures that actually make it more difficult for law enforcement, doctors, and local officials to work to reduce gun deaths and injuries.

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